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Friday, August 31, 2012

To celebrate Wilber Pan's album, THE STORY OF BILLY, which was released today, I have decided to translate the title track, 24 Billy (24個比利). I won't lie, I am actually very surprised by how much I like this song. I loved his 007 album (I even own it) but I was sorely disappointed by 808. It's probably because I am not particularly fond of k-pop (Which is surprising seeing as how most of my friends are obsessed with it) and that album/a lot of other Taiwanese songs are going towards that route so yeah. Anyways, even though 24 Billy contains a lot of k-pop elements I still greatly enjoy it. The beat is kind of repetitive and simple but can still be enjoyed. I have decided the two reasons why I like this song is because...

1) It's about Multiple Personality Disorder which I find particularly fascinating and interesting
2) I love Will Pan and just wanna huggle him because he's my ABC soul brother

Anyways, no matter what the reason is for my like of this song, I have translated it and here it is. Hope you enjoy the song~ (Lyrics are below video)

A note on the lyrics: There are a few parts in which the lyrics are pretty random and it's hard to grasp what Will is trying to say with them, so I've marked those in red. I had my mom look over them and we weren't entirely sure what he was trying to say, so yep. If you have a better clue please comment with a suggested translation and I will look it over and correct accordingly~

I am me. He is me. You are me. Then who am I?I am him. I am you. I am me. Then who am I?I am me. He is me. You are me. Then who am I?I am him. I am you. I am me. Then who am I? The cells in my body currently are sluggishly desiring to move The unknown image in the outer dimensional realm suddenly rotatesThe abnormal eyesights are completely focused on meThe knowledgeless ones please be careful because I might not be able to endureToo much. Too much.

Billy: This is my body but I discovered It’s not only meEvery individual has been seperated into when to be gathered in my heartWhat do you mean by the “Golden Billy”?They obviously like a trial of strengthHow I can coexist in this one body becomes the only assignmentRicky: I have a secret, secretHidden in my heart, heartI don’t know who will be coming out at what timeToby: Please don’t spill the secretI will erupt arbitrarily The one you are seeing is me, but you are not looking at meThe one you are facing is me, but I am no longer meThe cells in my body currently are sluggishly desiring to move The unknown image in the outer dimensional realm suddenly rotatesThe abnormal eyesights are completely focused on meThe knowledgeless ones please be careful because I might not be able to endureToo much. Too much.(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?Billy: At whatever time which you am I and where I am hiding? Tommy: Please don’t force me again. Please believe that I don’t understand. Mary: I also cannot see clearly. I have left behind the light. Szucs: Subvert the night and day. Your respectfulness decides my alibi. SO slow, slow.Detach AND GO. Or fast, fast. Waking up begets freedom. Who survives. Who escapes. There should only be one me that belongs to me. Don’t have too much BODY BODYDon’t keep MOVE MOVECrying and smiling, it’s all exceedingly similar. Need to force a smile. SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT SHOUTThe cells in my body currently are sluggishly desiring to move The unknown image in the outer dimensional realm suddenly rotatesThe abnormal eyesights are completely focused on meThe knowledgeless ones please be careful because I might not be able to endureToo much. Too much.(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?I am me. He is me. You are me. Then who am I?I am him. I am you. I am me. Then who am I?I am me. He is me. You are me. Then who am I? I am him. I am you. I am me. Then who am I?(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?(GO CRAZY) Who. Who. Who. Who am I actually?

Thursday, August 30, 2012

So, I've been watching the anime FAIRY TAIL since the week before summer vacation (June 8th) after my friend introduced it to us during our anime night. I am currently on episode 106 and totally loving it. This post will not be a formal review of the series (I will do that later), it will just be an introduction to it with some clips.

Short synopsis-Set in a land where magic is a common occurrence and magical guilds are all over. A girl named Lucy wants to join an infamous guild named Fairy Tail. By sheer luck she meets a boy named Natsu and his flying cat, Happy, whom turn out to be her one way ticket into the guild of her dreams. The series follows the guild's shenanigans and also the interactions between all of the members.

Enjoy!

First off are some clips I enjoy from the show...

FAIRY TAIL also happens to have some wonderful openings and endings. Here are some favorites of mine....

Ending #2-Tsuioku Merry Go Round

Ending #3-Gomen Ne, Watashi

And I can't talk about anime without adding in amvs, now can I?

Gray is one of my favorite characters....Watch this video and you shall understand..... *.*

And crack couples just make the world go 'round. I love this song a lot and was so happy when I saw it associated with a FAIRY TAIL amv. My favorite couple is Levy/Gajeel. Favorite crack couple is Natsu/Gray. Meowr.

Summary(From Front Flap): To ten-year-old Jamie, his family has fallen apart because of the loss of someone he barely remember: his sister Rose, who died five years ago in a terrorist bombing. To his father, life is impossible to make sense of when he lives in a world that could so cruelly take away a ten-year-old girl. To Rose's surviving fifteen-year-old twin, Jas, there's no escape form Rose's ever-present shadow-she's forever the living twin of a dead girl.

Jamie and Jas's father moves them to the countryside for a "fresh new start" without their mother, who stays behind in London. But when he places Rose's ashes back up on the mantelpiece, Jamei and Jas realize that the past will continue to haunt them wherever they go. Until that is, Jamei meets someone who seems to understand his pain-the one person whom his father would never allow him to befriend. Armed with his new friend and a keen understanding of the world around him, Jamie tries to make sense of the loss that has torn his family apart and endeavors to bring them back together.

Wdebo's Review: MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANTELPIECE is a stunning debut novel. When I first looked at the book, I was kind of hesitant to start it. I am a chronic offender of judging books by their cover and let me tell you, I really don't like that cover. (At least this cover seems better than the other ones for like the UK version and stuff). However, when I glanced over the beginning, I was shocked by how quickly I was hooked on the story.

Jamie is a very unique narrator especially when you look at the subject matter he is talking about. He's 10 and he acts and talks like it, though he does have a surprisingly mature instinct at times. I loved the usage of Jamie as the narrator, he is intune with his family and relates it back to the readers even if he does not understand what is going on at times.

The book deals with very heavy topics. It begins with a family torn apart by the death of their daughter five years ago and talks about issues like racism, alcoholism and bullying. Though at moments it does feel like the issues are buried and not given the amount of heaviness and importance they should be given, but that may also be one of the reasons I enjoyed this novel. It contains a sense of innocence that envelops the entire story. In the end, you are seeing all this unfold from Jamie's point of view and though so much has happened, he is still a child and keeps that point of view.

Throughout the story, it talks about Jamie's life a lot (Obviously, he's the protagonist) but it also deals with how his sister, Jas, deals with everything and the rest of the family's response. However, I was hoping that Jas' story could be emphasized more, it is an interesting contrast to Jamie's.

The writing itself was also very well done. The beginning though sad at parts was mainly pretty humorous. However, towards the middle it made me both laugh and cry. It was just really well written and I devoured it. The book itself is pretty small so this story went by pretty fast.

Cafe Cover Chat: As stated before, not a big fan of the cover, but I do like the blue! (C+)

All in all, a wonderful story. Even though it does contain darker themes it is written and presented in such a way that it can be enjoyed by both older and younger readers.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

I usually post songs on Saturdays. However, many of them aren't actual MVs, so I have decided to change the post label to Singin' Saturday because alliterations are BA~(At least in my dorky mind they are...)Title:Redlight DistrictArtist: Porcelain and The TrampsLanguage: EnglishTTS: None

Wdebo's Notes: Porcelain and the Tramps is the stage name used by singer Alaina Beaton when she was signed to Virgin Records. However, after being unable to agree on her music style, she left and changed to the name Porcelain Black instead.

I personally don't even remember how I found this song. I think it was from a Hetalia AMV but who knows. Anyways, from the first time I heard it, I was hooked. I really liked the beat and Porcelain's voice. As one of the commenters on the video intelligently noted, yes, this song does indeed show how much prostitution "sucks."

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Yippee~ The Electrical Book Cafe is now four years old and as of last week I am now 19. (Pretty boring age if you ask me...) It has been super fun blogging for TEBC even though I have been neglecting it for the past couple of years. *Pats blog's head in comforting manner* I probably will be blogging about the same amount this year as with the last couple of years. The reason? Two words. Organic. Chemisty. Oh yeah and let's not forget Biology and Honors College History either. Oh wells...

Summary(From Front Flap): The population of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, is shrinking as families move to cities and towns with greener pastures, and the local high school is hurting: Nearly all of the area's most eligible guys have moved or transferred schools.With little competition, the remaining boys find their stocks on the rise, and eve nthe most unlikely candidates have a good chance of making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming slacker Hunter Fahrenbach has made an art of blending into the background, but now desperate coaches are recruiting him and popular girls are noticing his scruffy good looks. With a little help, Hunter might even be boyfriend material..Down-to-earth Kelly Robbins has a simple wish for her junior year: "one normal, nice boy to crush on." Kelly and Hunter have always been friends, but is there something more to their platonic relationship? And can Kelly overcome to odds? After all, dating is hard enough without a four-to-one ratio.

Wdebo's Review: When I first heard about this book, I briefly read over the synopsis and for some reason, the only part of the plot I was able to absorb was the fact that all the "attractive" guys were gone. I personally thought that it was some sort of zombie virus that had attacked their town and created a catastrophe in which only the dorky guys were able to survive because of their geeky and/or nerdy knowledge. Sadly, the story was not like that at all. Instead it was only because two apparently very desirable family of guys moved out. Which isn't as exciting as zombie viruses. But whatever. I was a little disappointed by that.

However, that isn't the main thing I want to complain about. A bigger issue here is the fact that after the hot guys leave, the school still has around sixty guys left. This fact is flippantly pointed out once but later disregarded. The girls then prepare to act like famished ship wrecked pirates who just discovered an innocent cow or some other meat bearing animal meandering through their line of vision as if there are only six guys left in the whole school. I guess that half of them are underclassman but based on the crazy way the girls are acting I don't really think that small piece of detail matters very much. Also, it's not like their school is isolated on some kind of deserted island, there are plenty of schools around theirs which is evident at the end of the story. And yeah, most of them are in private school, but as stated above they seem desperate enough that it probably wouldn't matter to them, they would just work harder. But now that I have that off my chest, we can continue on with the rest of the review!

The beginning took me a bit to get into. I like alternating point-of-view books especially when it consists of a "she-said/he-said" version. However, even though I love books like that, it takes a lot for me to be satisfied by them because it is very difficult for authors to get the voices to sound just right. That was how Hunter's voice was in here. It just felt too trying for my taste. Just because someone cusses a few times and talks about getting high does not make someone instantly a guy. I would like to point out that there are plenty of girls out there that talk about that. And this just gets into a whole gender stereotype argument that we can leave for another day.

I was also kind of iffy about the fact that the writing just tried too hard to sound like a teenager. This not only applied to Hunter but also to Kelly. Meaney tried too hard to MAKE her characters into teenagers that it was hard to be believable it just didn't seem very natural, which is one of the main reasons it was so hard for me to get into. However, after a while I did start to get used to the writing and began to enjoy the book a lot more.

However, my review just seems like a load of bad comments about the book, but the novel actually was quite a lot of fun. It was cliche, yes. But it was fun and cute and did help me spend a few enjoyable hours. Its lightness helped me truly get into mindless summer mode. Even though it did go down a predictable path, I still liked the growth of affection between the two protagonists. Though some parts of that journey did bother and annoy me though, but it was still a smooth read and I finished it rather quickly. I admit there were a few mishaps throughout the book; however, overall it was able to keep me entertained for a bit. And that's all that matters.

Cafe Cover Chat: I actually really do like the cover, but that may just be because of my weakness for blue/pink color combinations. It looks cute. (B+)

All in all, though not the best book to hit the YA shelves, it was cute and an enjoyable read for a few mellow hours. However, now that I'm done, I'm pretty sure it was a cliche enough plot that I might forget the details in a few weeks.

Grade: B

Wdebo :)

"Unlikely heartthrobs: The Shy Guy, the Slacker, and the Video Game God" (103).

Thursday, August 16, 2012

"Above Earth, someone was thinking...'If half of making disappeared, how many foists would be saved? If 99% of mankind disappeared, would pollution be reduced by 99%?' Above Earth, someone was thinking...Someone was thinking 'If we protected life...'"

Summary: One night, tiny parasites invaded earth. There was no warning, no one had any idea the sort of horror that was in store for them in the days to come. The parasites invade their human hosts and take on their body and also an insatiable hunger for their fellow humans. They use any means to get the flesh they so crave including transforming into horrific monsters with giant teeth and razor sharp, vine-like ribbon heads. Slowly more and more gruesome murders begin to pop up all over and no one understands what is happening except for one high school student by the name of Shinichi Izumi.Shin is just an ordinary boy. Compasionate. Not particularly bright. Sweet. Filled with an understanding of what is right and wrong. Nothing about him suggests he could have anything to do with the recent mass murders except for the fact that he is the victim of a botched parasite invasion. Instead of invading his brain like the parasite was supposed to, it invaded his right hand and as a result the parasite (later named Migi) has taken over his right arm. Now Shin needs to learn to coexist with his new partner and to keep his situation a secret in order to protect himself from being turned into a lab rat or worse, to turn up dead. However, what should Shin do when the parasites begin to kill at an alarming rate and even begin to attack those around him?

Wdebo's Review: Even though I am the biggest scaredy-cat on the face of the planet (3D underwater movies scare me really badly...) I have an unnatural love for the horror genre. I love horror movies and horror stories. Therefore, it's no wonder I turned to horror manga to try to find something else I may add to the "Scare myself shitless but enjoy it" list. However, it just seemed like I was constantly looking at the wrong mangas. None of them interested me in the least. I tried out Skin and Bone and found myself disgusted, yes, but not in a good way for I found it too RL Stine-y for my taste, too over-the-top gruesome and also boring. The same went for Yami no Koe. Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show was better than the others I read but still just not what I was looking for (and it also creeped me out due to the fact that there were basically no boundaries to the whole story). To sum it up, what this long paragraph is trying to say is that all of the horror mangas I read were just not very good. Therefore, I thought PARASYTE would be the same. I thought it would be pretty lame, I mean look at that plot. Even if you ignore my not that exciting writing, it still sounds pretty boring. Alien invasion? Yeah, it's not like I haven't seen that like a bagillion times. But, I was very surprised about how much I enjoyed it.

The storyline is very easy to follow. (However, I am confused by the fact that the parasite invasion only seemed to have occurred in Japan? Wouldn't aliens want to take over more places than just there?) Protagonist is part of a failed parasite take over and has to work with parasite to protect those around him and try to stop other parasites. But it became so much more than that. It raised good questions even though I personally wasn't paying attention to them until they were bluntly brought up again towards the end of the novel. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the amount of "philosophical" questions it raised (or tried to raise), seeing as how I was only reading for the horror/gore aspect of it.

Also, the characters were nicely developed and enjoyable. There were also many great characters that filled the story. Shin and Migi were both wonderful protagonists. I loved how as the plot progressed their "humanity" decreased and increased respectively. I do have to admit though that I have a sweet spot for Migi (When you read it, you will understand!). The most disagreeable character for me though is the love interest who gives the protagonist power and desire to protect her because she is too weak to actually do anything apart from being a subconscious mental cheerleader, Satomi.

I also enjoyed the light amount of humor that helped to dispel some of the heaviness of the whole gruesome activities that the parasites were bringing to earth. It was a welcome addition.

Towards the middle; however, it did feel like it was getting repetitive. The fight scenes were beginning to blend in together and nothing truly stood out to me. Thankfully, it shifted gears and I was entertained once again. I did enjoy the fights though. The artwork itself is pretty obviously 90's (which can be a good thing or bad thing, depending on your own stance) and though at times it seems kind of vague, the fighting scenes are very detailed. Including the remaining body parts which at first disturbed me just because they were all completely mutated and butchered and it was just creepy. (Just a warning for readers!) The transformations of the parasites are also very interesting to look at. I have never seen aliens' heads become ribbon-like then slice through the bodies of their enemies. (Or maybe that might just be because I haven't watched a crazy amount of horror movies...maybe it's a common monster attack I am unaware of....) Going off the artwork, I also liked how it was pretty easy to tell who the parasites were by the way that the eyes are drawn.

All in all, a very enjoyable manga that may not be suitable for everybody but will not be a complete waste of time if you just give it a chance. For a story that I thought was going to be lame and boring, it had surprisingly great flow and was really addicting. After reading for a while, I did feel myself getting transported into the story and fearing for the lives of Shin and those around him. It was a scary thought to think what would happen to us if aliens invaded. How would we survive? What would we do? And the most important question of all: Are they the real monsters or are we?

Grade: A-

Wdebo :)

~~~

Read the manga HERE~
Check out the playlist I made for PARASYTE HERE~
Wanna check out my anime/manga progress? Check out my anime list HERE~

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Hi World! In Order to celebrate the paperback release of POPULAZZI, author, Elise Allen, has decided to do a little blog tour. So without further ado, here is a fun and delectable character post from the protagonist, Cara Leonard.

Enjoy!

~~~

Hey! Cara Leonard here, and ever since Populazzi came out, I’ve been getting a
lot of questions about my eating habits.
Usually they go something like, “You don’t seriously eat all that weird
stuff, do you?” And they’re usually
accompanied by a curled-lip grimace that makes me feel like I have something
gross hanging off my face.

But the thing is, I do eat all that weird stuff.And it’s really good.So since Debo was nice enough to invite me
here, I thought I’d take the opportunity to present a full day’s meals worth of
my favorite delicacies.Chefs of the
world, be on alert: if you’re searching for innovative new ideas, look no
further.Read, implement… and make sure
you give me a shout-out when you get your James Beard award.

Breakfast:Fauxtmeal
Cookie Bowl

Take one serving of raw rolled oats and
mix with enough cottage cheese to just coat the oats.Mix in cinnamon and sugar (or your sweetener
of choice – we always have Stevia in the house, so I’ve been using that) to
taste.The final concoction should have
the consistency of oatmeal cookie dough, which is almost exactly what it tastes
like.

Lunch:
Pumpkin Almond Surprise

Take one brown rice tortilla and cover
with almond butter.Add a layer of
pumpkin butter.The “surprise” part is
the third ingredient, which you can mix up depending on your mood.I sometimes put in banana, sometimes shredded
coconut… or if I’m really feeling decadent, I’ll add a square of dark chocolate
right in the middle, like a hidden treat.When everything’s on the tortilla, fold in half and enjoy.

Afternoon
Snack: Cap’n AppleNutter

Use one of those apple corer/slicer
things to cut an apple into pieces.Coat
each piece liberally with peanut butter (which is totally different than the almond butter you had at lunch), then
roll in Cap’n Crunch until coated.Yes,
the super-sugared dry cereal can feel like it’s cutting into your mouth
sometimes… but that just makes the meal a little more adventurous.

Dinner:Toasted Broccoli and Ketchup

No, no – really, it’s good.So you take plain raw broccoli, put it in the
toaster oven, and bake it at 450 until it’s brown and crispy.Then you salt it up, drench it in organic ketchup – it has to be organic
or it’s too thin and sugary – then crunch away!I know it seems like more of a side dish than a complete dinner, but I
like it so much I usually make a lot, and then I’m not really hungry for
anything else.

Dessert:
French Fries Dipped in Chocolate Milkshake

No further explanation necessary; it’s
just the best food on the planet.

So there you go! A full day of deliciousness for which your
stomach will no doubt thank me. And
speaking of thanks, I want to thank Wdebo for having me on the blog! I had a great time, and now I’m inspired to
write down more of my culinary brainstorms.
I need to get ready because if anyone from Food Network sees this blog,
they’ll totally be calling me to host my own show.

~~~

Hope you all liked it...and now I'm off to the kitchen to try out some of these food options~~

Wdebo :)

P.S. Did this post whet your appetite to read this novel? Check out the book trailer HERE~

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Wdebo's Notes: Jess Lee is a Malaysian singer who won the 7th season of the Taiwanese singing competition show, One Million Star. I admit, I have never watched that show before (I'm just not really into singing competition shows) but listening to this song lets me understand the exact reason why she won. Damn this girl can sing. She has a wonderful range and her high notes are amazing.

This song became quite popular, not just because of Jess Lee's kickass vocals but also for the controversial nature of the music video. It was, at one time, banned from YouTube and Tudou. The music video graphically depicts the hopelessness and depressing side of being abandoned by love, but also the promise of a fresh beginning. All of that is backed up by Jess Lee's lovely voice singing this beautifully painful and heart-felt song. I do also need to point out what a great actress Jennifer Chu is in this video. [For those that are put off by that the lyrics video is posted below the actual music video...so you can listen to this great song without actually having to watch it...]

Also-I have read from some sources that this video is about a rape victim and other sources say it is about an abandoned/broken relationship. I'm not entirely sure which one it is. Both seem probable to me, but based off of the song, the abandoned/broken relationship (in my thoughts) fits in better with the lyrics.

But anyways,

Listen and Love!

Music Video:

*Warning* This video places a heavy emphasis on the sexual aspect of the past relationship and also does not hold back depicting the deteriorating condition of the girl's house and life. Basically, watch out for HD shots of rotted foods, dirty bathroom trips and pesky cockroaches. (Would be recommended for 18+ viewers) *End of Warning*

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Wdebo's Notes: I have recently become addicted to listening to nico nico trap singers (or "ryouseiruri" as they are known as). Trap singers are people who sing the opposite of their gender. (That was really confusing way of putting it, let me rephrase). 96neko and Tenchou are both considered "trap singers" or "ryouseiruri." 96neko (Yellow hair in the video) is a girl but she mostly sings as a guy (even though she does use a more "feminine" voice in parts of the song). Tenchou (Red hair in the video), on the other hand, is a guy who sings as a girl.

I first heard the Miku and Gumi vocaloidversion, so hearing this version and comparing it to the original was lots of fun, both singers are super funny.

Both vocalists are very talented and have created some wonderful and greatly amusing songs. 96neko is famous for her unabashed obsession with Len (a vocaloid) and tapioca (Those "pearls" in bubble tea) and has made some funny songs about both of those things (Separately and together). While Tenchou has an obsession with bloomers (which he talks about in the video) and has made songs about everything from romance to panties to masturbation. Both are very interesting singers.